Shelf Awareness for Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Quotation of the Day

'Bookshops Are Cultural Assets'

"Bookshops are cultural assets. They launch and build the careers of authors, they champion reading for pleasure, and they bring vitality to the high street at a time the high street is under constant threat. Every high street is rich if it has got a bookshop.... Booksellers bring both community value and cultural value to their towns, at a heroic level."

'Bookshops Are Cultural Assets'

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

News

Page 158 Books Opening Second Location in Wendell, N.C.

Dave and Suzanne Lucey

"It'll give us the opportunity to get a little more creative with our events," said Dave Lucey, co-owner of Page 158 Books, a general-interest, independent bookstore in Wake Forest, N.C., that will soon have a second location on N. Main St. in nearby Wendell, N.C. He and his wife, Suzanne Lucey, plan to open the new store in time for the Fourth of July.

While the new location will technically be smaller than the original store--about 600 square feet of selling space compared to 1,600--the new Page 158 Books shares a larger, connected space with a wine store and tap room called Wine and Beer 101. From the outside, Wine 101 and Page 158 will have their own entrances and storefronts, but inside, customers will be able to move freely between the two. The building also has a second-floor events space that, at 1,500 square feet, is nearly as large as the entire Page 158 original store.

"It feels like you're in a bookstore for wine," Lucey described Wine and Beer 101. "It has a relaxing atmosphere."

Lucey explained that although the Wendell location will be a general-interest, all-ages store like the original, he and his wife will adjust the inventory not only to fit into a smaller space but also better suit a new clientele. Given that they'll be sharing a building with a wine and beer store, the Luceys plan to expand their selection of wine- and drink-related books significantly.

He also reported that though it specializes in alcoholic drinks, Wine and Beer 101 has a calm, family-friendly vibe, and younger couples and families often bring their kids. As such, they plan to make sure to have plenty of children's books to "help keep the kids occupied." Lucey noted, too, that the area between Raleigh, N.C., and the state's coast is something of a "book desert," and he and his wife look forward to bringing a variety of new fiction and nonfiction to that community.

As for events, Lucey added that they are excited about the flexibility that will come from sharing space with Wine and Beer 101. One thing they'd like to do in Wendell that they can't do at the original store is host cookbook clubs, where they hope to bring in cookbook authors and share food made from the author's recipes.

"We really want to try to be creative and figure out what the community wants," he said. "Now we can do something with 50 people without moving a shelf."

Asked whether he and his wife had been looking to open a second store for a long time, Lucey said they hadn't--in fact, they had the opportunity kind of "fall in our laps." Since they opened Page 158 Books in 2015, the Luceys became good friends with Joe O'Keefe, the owner of Wine and Beer 101, which has several locations in the area. Lucey described O'Keefe as a fixture of the local business community, the kind of person "you go to for advice," and said that he had consulted with O'Keefe frequently in 2017 when he and his wife had to vacate their bookstore's original storefront while their new space was still being built out.

More recently, O'Keefe had already been looking for something to add to the Wendell location, Lucey continued, when he read a Facebook post from a Wendell resident saying they wished they had a bookstore in town. "He had a thought and called us the next day," recalled Lucey. "That was in January."

The Luceys have committed to a trial period of six months; assuming all goes well, they'll extend the Wendell location into 2019 and see where it goes from there. Dave Lucey, who has a day job in IT, said that at first Suzanne Lucey is "going to spend quite a bit of time" at the new location, along with two part-time employees. Should they bring on more staff, the Luceys would like to hire someone local to Wendell.

Lucey said they're hoping to open on July 1, but fully intend to be open on the Fourth of July. The town's annual parade will pass right by the building, and he and his wife will "make sure we're open for that." --Alex Mutter

Last year, Amanda De Seta, founder of LointerHome, purchased the Bookstore in the Grove property at 3390 Mary St. with plans to renovate and reopen the bookshop that had been in danger of closing. Renovations at the Cocowalk outdoor mall "made a move necessary and the old space will probably be converted to office space," Miami.com wrote. De Seta chose to relocate the business to a more pedestrian-friendly spot.

"We needed to be in a more central location," she said. "We really saw the decrease in foot traffic. The construction made it increasingly hard to get people to that end of the complex."

Miami.com noted that at first glance, bookstore&kitchen "seems more kitchen than bookstore. But walk behind the cafe, and you'll find the books in a bright, small space." De Seta described the book selection as "hyper focused on eclectic stuff--kids' books, stuff from the MOMA design store, lines you find specifically in Europe. We're quirky."

bookstore&kitchen: New Name, Location in Coconut Grove

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

June Indie Next List E-Newsletter Delivered

Last Thursday, the American Booksellers Association's e-newsletter edition of the Indie Next List for June was delivered to nearly half a million of the country's best book readers. The newsletter was sent to customers of 126 independent bookstores, with a combined total of 491,132 subscribers.

The e-newsletter, powered by Shelf Awareness, features all of the month's Indie Next List titles, with bookseller quotes and "buy now" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on the sending store's website. The newsletter, which is branded with each store's logo, also includes an interview (from Bookselling This Week) with the author whose book was chosen by booksellers as the number-one Indie Next List pick for the month, in this case There There by Tommy Orange (Knopf).

June Indie Next List E-Newsletter Delivered

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Obituary Note: William Reese

William Reese, the founder of the William Reese Company who "was universally acknowledged to be the greatest American antiquarian bookseller of his generation" and "widely celebrated as a man of uncommon graciousness, generosity, humor and decency," died June 4, the New Antiquarian reported. He was 62. Reese was known for his expertise in Americana, color plate books, natural history, exploration, literature and the history of the book.

Before he had graduated from Yale in 1977, Reese was already a partner in a rare book firm, Frontier Americana. He founded the William Reese Company in 1979. A longtime member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, he also wrote a number of books on the antiquarian trade and book history.

In a tribute on the American Book Collecting blog, Kurt Zimmerman observed: "Writing this has become hard now. The memories have me deeply saddened and I'm lamenting the fact there will be no further interactions. There was so much I wanted to tell him and so much more I wanted to hear. We were both big admirers of Charles Everitt's Adventures of a Treasure Hunter (1951), one of the best bookseller memoirs. I prodded Bill to write his own memoirs and he said he was, but I don't think it happened--fleeting time, illness, and life cruelly short. It would have been the best of them all. I know it. But I'm grateful for what he did write and gave to the book world and while he was busy building important collections, buying and selling great books, and becoming one of the finest antiquarian booksellers of all, he took time to be my friend."

Obituary Note: William Reese

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Notes

Meet the Aussie Young Booksellers of the Year: Stephanie Beck

In the week leading up to the Australian Booksellers Association 2018 conference, June 17-18, Books+Publishing is interviewing each of the five shortlisted nominees for Young Bookseller of the Year. In the first installment, Stephanie Beck, events manager at Better Read Than Dead in Newtown, Sydney, answered the question:

What are the top three things you wish you'd known when you were starting out in the book industry?

When I started working in this industry I was 17 years old, and hired to come in on Saturday to wrap books. I knew next to nothing about bookselling, although I could fold a perfect corner and curl ribbon like a pro. I was also an avid reader (the Matilda sort), and almost everything else I knew about books came from my English teachers, pop culture or my grandmother. I hoped my experience would be a little more Notting Hill, and a little less Black Books. I therefore had this preconceived notion of what bookshop work would be like, which turned out to be fairly inaccurate. I wish I'd known that:

I wouldn't have time to sit down at the front counter and read my book!

I would accumulate books at a rate bewildering to myself and to everyone around me. My obsession with complete sets and matching spines and colored fore edges and limited editions and signed copies would only intensify. Entire paychecks would be spent on books. I'd no longer be able to visit another suburb, town or country without checking out its bookshops, and I now find myself alphabetizing, reordering and facing out books wherever I go. Working in a bookshop almost becomes a way of life; taking over my house, my holidays and a lot of my head space!

There is so much more to bookshop employment than I imagined. My role as events manager in particular has taken me places I hadn't anticipated, I've been introduced to people I never dreamed I would meet and have been able to support books I really believe in. I love the customer service and retail sides of my work, but being a part of the wider book industry and working alongside publishers and authors has been equally as rewarding. I think booksellers are perfectly positioned between the world of publishing and the world of readers, and can do so much to inspire a love of literature, champion important writing and pioneer change both in the industry and in society more broadly. I am digressing from the question a little here and I don't mean to gush, but I really do wish I'd realized the potential of my job and the weight of this industry a little earlier.

Meet the Aussie Young Booksellers of the Year: Stephanie Beck

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Bookstore Display of the Day: Green Apple Books

Green Apple Books, San Francisco, Calif., which turned 50 last year, tweeted a photo of its "Book a Year" birthday display, noting: "Celebrating all of our years with handpicked selections for you (est. 1967). All picks are currently on display at our Annex 520 Clement Street."

Bookstore Display of the Day: Green Apple Books

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Personnel Changes at HarperCollins

Daniel Vidra has joined the HarperCollins international sales team as associate director and will manage HarperCollins U.S. sales in the open market (Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa). He began his career at Bantam Doubleday Dell in the early 1990s, overseeing sales in Asia. He then moved to international sales management positions at Warner Books and Simon & Schuster. For the past six years, he has held a variety of positions in the digital world, which included overlaps with international sales.

Book Trailer of the Day: Raised by Unicorns

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Media and Movies

Media Heat: Howard Bryant on Fresh Air

Today:CBS This Morning: Roger Bennett, co-author of Men in Blazers Present Encyclopedia Blazertannica: A Suboptimal Guide to Soccer, America's Sport of the Future Since 1972 (Knopf, $27.95, 9781101875988).

Tomorrow:The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: Clint Watts, author of Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News (Harper, $27.99, 9780062795984).

Media Heat: Howard Bryant on Fresh Air

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

TV: The Outsider

Media Rights Capital, which partnered with Stephen King on The Dark Tower, "is back in business" with the bestselling author. Deadline reported that MRC has optioned King's novel The Outsider and plans a 10-episode limited series adaptation, which will be written by Richard Price. Jack Bender and Marty Bowen (Mr. Mercedes) are executive producing with MRC, and Bender may direct the pilot. King has the option to join as executive producer. Deadline noted that MRC "will develop the show with Price writing the pilot before they set it at a network."

TV: The Outsider

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Books & Authors

Awards: RBC Bronwen Wallace Winner

Maria Reva won the C$10,000 (about US$7,685) RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, for her short story, "The Ermine Coat." Established in memory of author Bronwen Wallace, the award "has a track record of identifying future Canadian writing stars," organizers said. The prize alternates each year between short fiction and poetry.

This year's finalists, who each receive C$2,500 (about US$1,920), were Sarah Christina Brown for "Kingdom Come" and Khalida Hassan for "Adjacent Rooms." The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award is one of 10 literary prizes awarded annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada.

Awards: RBC Bronwen Wallace Winner

Share with friends:

Permanent Link:

Reading with... Michael Ian Black

photo: Natalie Brasington

Michael Ian Black is a writer, comedian and actor (most recently The Jim Gaffigan Show; Another Period; Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later). He created and starred in many TV series, including Michael and Michael Have Issues, Stella and The State. He wrote the screenplay for the film Run, Fatboy, Run and wrote and directed the film Wedding Daze. Black regularly tours the country as a stand-up comedian and is the author of the book My Custom Van (and 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face), the memoir You're Not Doing It Right and several children's books, including Chicken Cheeks, The Purple Kangaroo and Cock-a-Doodle-Doo-Bop. His newest book for children, I'm Sad (Simon & Schuster), is available now. Black lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.On your nightstand now:

This is a difficult question because I have about 40 books there, as I have a terrible habit of bringing books upstairs but never bringing them back down. I just finished reading Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein and started Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon.

Favorite book when you were a child:

I adored the Great Brain series about a boy genius and his younger brother who couldn't quite measure up. Great books set in the late 1800s about individual strengths and brotherhood and indoor plumbing.

Your top five authors:

Argh. I love individual books more than authors but probably: Michael Chabon, Gary Shteyngart, Tracy Kidder, Jennifer Egan and I love Educated by Tara Westover, which is her first book but what the hell, I'm recommending it.

Book you've faked reading:

I don't think I've ever done this, but I have nodded along as people talk to me about great Russian literature, mistakenly assuming I've read it.

Book you're an evangelist for:Stephen King's book On Writing is as good a book about the craft of writing as you will ever find.

Book you've bought for the cover:

I didn't buy it because he gave me an advance reader's copy but my favorite cover of the last however long is the cover of John Hodgman's Vacationland (which is also an excellent book).

Book you hid from your parents:

Duh. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Book that changed your life:

The World According to Garp by John Irving. Before I read that, I guess I didn't realize how far literature could go in terms of building an expansive, recognizable, absurd world.

Favorite line from a book:

I don't think I know any lines from any books. That's my fault, not the fault of the books.

Five books you'll never part with:

I love my giant old dictionary that I never use, my first edition How I Made $1,000,000 Playing Poker by Doyle Brunson, my autographed copy of Roz Chast's Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? and then I'll use the other two spots to pick any two of my wife's battered paperback classics because they make me think of her.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

I'd be curious to read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time as an adult to see if it would resonate with me. I read it at the perfect time and felt, like millions of teenagers before me, that this was the only guy on Earth who got it. Not sure if I would feel that way again or not.

Permanent Link:

Book Review

Children's Review: My Year in the Middle

When sixth-grader Lu Olivera discovers an unexpected passion for running, she also finds a potential friend in fellow speedster Belinda Gresham. Unfortunately, 1970s Red Grove, Ala., is not an easy place for this friendship. Although public schools have officially become integrated, Lu, an immigrant from Argentina, and Belinda, a black girl, are not supposed to "mix," according to the culture of the community. School may be desegregated, but their classroom reflects the reality of the racial status: "White kids sit on one side and black kids on the other." Lu is "one of the few middle-rowers who split the difference," not belonging clearly to either group. The kids in the middle rows "believe in equal rights and all that good stuff," and this "makes [them] weirdos in some people's eyes." Everyone in the class is closely following the upcoming primary election in which ex-governor and segregationist George Wallace is trying to reclaim his old position from the current moderate governor, Albert Brewer.

Inspired by black Olympic champion Madeline Manning, Lu tries to focus her energy on preparing for the big field day race. But some of Lu's classmates resent her interest in running and her growing friendship with Belinda. Torn between her desire to have Belinda in her life and not wanting to make trouble for herself or her traditional parents, Lu frets: "What's really got me worried is crossing over a line I'm not supposed to cross, if people see me getting friendly with Belinda." But as they rack up the running miles together, and the political situation in Alabama--and at school--turns ugly, Lu is going to have to figure out how to get herself some "gumption" and decide if she's strong enough to be openly true to her beliefs and feelings, regardless of consequences.

Based on true events in Lila Quintero Weaver's own 1970s childhood as an Argentinian immigrant in a small Alabama town, My Year in the Middle is a moving story about finding one's center in the midst of overwhelming external pressure. Lu is believable as a girl who is afraid to "stick [her] neck out too far." And she's genuinely likable as a girl who wants nothing more than to find a friend who shares interests and a sense of humor, even if she doesn't share a skin color. Weaver, who previously published a graphic memoir called Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, writes vividly about the spaces in the middle, between black and white. Any reader who has struggled to find a safe and happy place between polarities will appreciate Weaver's deep understanding of just how difficult--and rewarding--this can be. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor

Shelf Talker: Sixth-grader Lu discovers that 1970s Alabama is a tough place to develop a mixed-race friendship in this beautifully written novel about real-life events in the painful era of school desegregation.